TNA Epics TV Report - Airing June 26th, 2009
Report by Garrett Kidney, PWInsider

We have the Best of the World title matches featured this week as we start off with Jeff Jarrett vs. Raven from the Asylum for the NWA World Heavyweight title on April 30th 2003. Raven got the better of Jarrett in the opening exchanges which featured some chain wrestling. Raven rolled to the outside but Jarrett hit a Dropkick through the ropes and followed Raven to the outside slam him off the guardrail a few times. Julio Dinero (who was at ringside as a member of Raven's Gathering stable) tried to hit Jarrett with a chair but Jarrett ducked and Dinero nailed Raven instead (Alexis Laree (who would go to be known as Mickie James in the WWE) distracted the referee). Jarrett knocked Dinero over the top with a clothesline then did a Slingshot splash onto both Dinero and Laree but as Jarrett turned around, Raven came over the top hitting him with a dive.

Raven Drop Toe Hold'ed Jarrett into the ring steps as The Gathering set up a table on the other side of the ring. Raven set Jarrett up on the table went up top but Jarrett got off the table and rolled back in the ring. Raven came off the top with a Double Ax Handle on Jarrett and Raven followed up by hitting a Drop Toe Hold on Jarrett into a chair. There was a noticeable edit here as we skipped to Jarrett hitting Raven with a Stroke for a near fall. Raven then hit a Raven Effect for another near fall. Jarrett hit a clothesline on Raven which sent them both over the top Foley style. Jarrett put Raven on the table and came off the top with an elbow putting Raven through the table. Back in the ring Jarrett hit the Raven Effect on Raven but The Gathering pulled referee Rudy Charles out, as Rudy was sending The Gathering to the back Raven knocked Jarrett into him and Rudy fell off the apron.

Raven hit a low blow and then the Extreme Revolution (New Jack, Sandman, Perry Saturn and Justin Credible) ran in, beat down Jarrett and put handcuffs on him. Sandman and New Jack then held steel chairs either side of Jarrett's head and Credible and Saturn superkicked each chair into Jarrett's head. The lights went out and as they came back on Sabu was getting in the ring and he cleared house on the Extreme Revolution. As Sabu jumped into the crowd to escape he seemed to trample some person in the crowd and he spent a few seconds checking was she okay. Raven swung a chair at the still handcuffed Jarrett but Jarrett moved and the chair rebounded off the ropes hitting Raven in the head for a near fall.

Bill Behrens brought a key out but Rudy couldn't unlock the handcuff so Raven did, he hit a Raven Effect for a near fall. Raven picked Jarrett up, went for another Raven Effect but Jarrett countered into a Stroke for the win. It was a pretty good match up until all of the interference brought it down. The amount of interference bordered on ridiculous at times.

After the break we went onto the next match which was from Unbreakable 2005 as Raven defended his NWA World Heavyweight title against Rhino in a Raven's Rules match. Raven started off strong as quite early he busted Rhino open using a pizza cutter and hit Rhino with a few trays. They brawled on the outside for a while before Rhino got a beer keg and hit Raven with it a couple of times. Raven came back with a Kendo Stick and locked on a Ankle Lock on Rhino in the ring, Rhino got to the ropes and there was another noticeable edit. Rhino kicked a trash can into Raven's face before Raven locked on the Ankle Lock again and Rhino hit Raven with a trash can to escape followed by another edit.

Rhino missed a top rope splash and Raven made a big comeback including a Discus Clothesline and a Clothesline in the corner followed by a bulldog. Rhino slammed Raven's head into a chair. Cassidy Riley interfered and distracted Rudy Charles. Raven hit the Raven Effect but Riley still had the ref distracted. Raven did a pretty cool powerbomb on Rhino onto a ladder and the ladder broke which led to a near fall. Rhino catapulted the ladder into Raven's face and then brought a shopping cart into the ring. Raven drove the cart into Rhino. Rhino went for a Gore but missed and went hard into the cart. Jarrett ran down, tried to hit Raven with the belt but Jeff Hardy ran down to stop that. Raven hit the Raven Effect on Jarrett and then on Rhino for the win. This was a good enough hardcore match but not much more.

After the break, was the last match this week - AJ Styles vs. Jeff Jarrett for the NWA title from Hard Justice 2005 with MMA fighter Tito Ortiz as guest referee. The first five or so minutes was just simple lockups, headlocks and arm bars. After Styles got the better of Jarrett, Jarrett jumped to the outside and milked the most out of the ten count that he could. Styles hit his awesome dropkick, hit a scoop slam and followed it up with a knee drop. Jarrett threw Styles up high and Styles came down across as we go to an ad break.

We come back from the break with AJ on the outside, Jarrett follows him to the outside, Styles went for a clothesline, Jarrett ducked and Styles hit the ringpost. Ortiz stops both Jarrett and Styles from using the guitar, Styles then destroyed the guitar off the ringpost. Back in the ring, Styles hit a Flying Forearm Smash followed by a spin and a Springboard Inverted DDT for a near fall. Jarrett countered the Styles Clash and hit AJ with a powerbomb for a near fall. AJ countered the Stroke but got hit with a big Powerslam. AJ got Jarrett in a series of pinning combinations for near falls and hit the Pele. Jarrett then hit AJ with the Styles Clash for a good near fall and AJ hit Jarrett with the Stroke for another good near fall.

AJ goes up top but misses a 450 splash, rolls through and gets Jarrett in position for a Styles Clash, Monty Brown ran in, went for a Pounce, Styles moved and Monty hit Jarrett by mistake. Ortiz was busy getting rid of Brown as AJ had a pin on Jarrett. Rudy Charles ran down, made a two count but Ortiz pulled him out as he was ref not Rudy. Jarrett hit a low blow on Styles and placed him on the top rope. Jarrett then got in an argument with Ortiz and pushed him twice. Ortiz then layed Jarrett out with a punch, Styles hit the Spiral Top off the top and ended Jeff Jarrett's eleven month reign as NWA champ to a big pop and celebration from the crowd. Really good match even with the interference.

Closing Thoughts: While nothing this week was spectacular, nothing was bad either. It's not a must-see show but you won't feel robbed of your time if you do. Preview for next week: Friday, July 3: "The Hardcore Wars, Part 1" - One of host Mick Foley's favorite episodes, as TNA looks back at the historic barbaric battles, with:
- Rare footage of the bloody Raven scalping at the hands of Shane Douglas and James Mitchell from September 2003
- Full Metal Mayhem: Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy from Against All Odds 2005
- Team 3D & Rhino vs. Jeff Jarrett & America's Most Wanted from Genesis 2005
- Barbed Wire Massacre: Abyss vs. Sabu from Turning Point 2005

Garrett Kidney